Find out how Stein IAS nabbed the award for best strategy agency of the year using marketing technology and creativity to accelerate growth for their clients.

About Stein IAS

Stein IAS is an-award winning global advertising and marketing agency. Stein IAS merges state-of-the-art technology with creative passion. The agency connects B2B brands with customers both emotionally and financially. The organisation was recently named Agency of the Year by the ANA Business Marketing in 2019.

Mission: 

Stein IAS’s mission is to advance the theory and practice of B2B marketing. They have been doing so for the past 46 years as the B2B specialist agency in the UK and across Europe. Their vision is to deliver a ‘Post-Modern B2B Marketing’, balancing marketing technology and creativity to accelerate growth for their clients.

Key personnel: 

Marc Keating, chief innovation officer:

Marc was the creator of a new planning system called the Digital Marketing Transformation Framework. The DMTF enabled Stein IAS to define clients’ technology-enabled transformation journeys. Marc was named by The Internationalist as one of 27 Top Agency Innovators and was an Oracle Markie Award Finalist. Most recently, he was named by The Drum a ‘Martech Hero’ and ‘Marketing Agency Leader of the Year’ and awarded Martech Visionary of the Year’ in the 2019 Martech Awards.

Lisa Arnold, director of interactions:

Lisa is one of Stein IAS’ youngest ever directors at the age of 27. Lisa has architected the agency’s data and analytics and was awarded the ‘Generation Z Trailblazer’ prize at the B2B Innovator of the Year Awards this year and was also named ‘Rising Star of the Year’ at The Drum’s DADI Awards.

Justin Wong, ‘The Oracle’ from Oracle:

Justin is the director of marketing cloud and the chief architect behind the tech stacks Stein IAS strategizes , builds and configures for clients. As one of the first employees at Eloqua, Justin joined Oracle following its acquisition of Eloqua and went on to write the Oracle Eloqua specialisation exam, which is still used today.

Jordan Lane, director of creative technology:

Jordan is responsible for building cutting-edge digital applications and brand experiences. He was awarded ‘Rising Star’ at the 2018 MPA Inspiration Awards, and a ‘One to Watch’ at the Drum Network Awards and Campaign Tech Awards.

Commercial context, challenges and objectives

As martech has gained near-ubiquitous adoption, clients have struggled to realise its full potential. While gradually gaining tactical proficiency, they still wanted to leap to strategic impact. Stein IAS is partner to global brands of consequence in making that leap and achieving the strategic impact commensurate with companies’ massive martech investments.

With the launch of the Digital Marketing Transformation Framework, the agency drives visioning, business alignment, roadmap planning and, ultimately, higher-order execution. Stein IAS aims  to optimise all the drivers of martech’s strategic effectiveness: people, processes, technology and go-to-market.

Results

• As agencies struggle to keep AOR relationships, Stein IAS generated additional ones (90% of clients are AOR) and retained existing ones (90%+ retention rate). This past year, Stein IAS earned multiple new business wins with 10%+ profit growth.
• Expanded relationships with clients who value our strategic martech expertise include: ABB, HSBC, UL, Tetra Pak
• New relationships include: Google, Elanco, Covance, Brother, MSCI, Marshalls

Impact on client’s businesses

HSBC Commercial Banking: 

For HSBC, Stein IAS developed an ambitious demand generation roadmap, building out its martech stack, developing its data and go-to-market strategies and launching multiple campaigns — creating the pipeline to deliver its 10% per annum growth target.

Trelleborg Marine & Infrastructure:

To promote Trelleborg’s SafeTug software, we created a 360-degree video experience that enabled the tech-averse audience to ‘see and feel’ SafeTug’s benefits. The result was an award-winning experience, website and integrated campaign that engaged 20% of TMI’s total addressable market within weeks.

Tetra Pak:

Stein IAS was selected to drive the digital transformation strategy at packaging and processing giant Tetra Pak. With the goal of having all marketing activities powered by marketing and sales technologies by 2021, Stein IAS has defined the blueprint for success. Tech-enabled GTM frameworks now dictate how different tiers of campaigns can be templated and automated to deliver communication at scale and on brand.

Industry or market engagement and/or leadership

Stein IAS delivers value through ongoing investment in thought leadership. This year, Stein IAS:

• Presented the Digital Marketing Transformation Framework at the inaugural B2B Marketing “Get Stacked” Conference
• Completed a global Digital Marketing Transformation Survey
• Launched the Blog Post Modern in which Chairman Tom Stein provides insights from marketers such as Toni Clayton-Hine, CMO of EY Americas, and Kathy Seegebrecht, CMO of UL
• Presented “Crossing the Brand-to-Demand Divide” at the LinkedIn/ANA Conference in New York
• Debuted the provocative point of view, “Stop Struggling with Creativity and Start Having Ideas with Value” at Masters of B2B Marketing in Chicago